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The NCAA Tournament next season is being moved across the Ohio State campus and into the school’s new volleyball arena.
The NCAA men’s volleyball committee announced at its recent meeting that is formally moving 2021 NCAA Tournament from St. John Arena to the Covelli Center.
The Covelli Center opened following the 2019 season, and the Buckeyes played their 2020 home matches in the $49 million state of the art college arena. Among the features of the 100,000-square-foot stadium includes a new public address sound system, large video scoreboards and modernized locker rooms and film rooms.
The Covelli Center at 3,700 seats also meets the NCAA’s seating capacity requirements to host the event.
Construction started on the Covelli Center in 2017 while the bid process was taking place to host this NCAA Tournament. Ohio State in its bid to host the 2021 event had listed its old stadium St. John Arena as the venue instead of the unbuilt Covelli Center.
This will be the sixth time that Ohio State has played host to the NCAA Tournament. The previous times the event took place in St. John Arena, including most recently in 2017 when the Buckeyes won the national championship their home court.
St. John Arena served as Ohio State’s home arena from 1998 to 2019 and was built more than 50 years ago as a basketball venue.